Trissy frowned slightly. As a former Instigator, she was very sensitive to language and could sense that Leyton leaned more towards having her choose that 'Erudite.'
An unknown Hidden existence, was it an identity created by a True God or an Evil God to corrupt the authority of Concealment?
The God of Knowledge and Wisdom? Or the Hidden Sage?
After a moment of contemplation, she collected her thoughts and asked with some curiosity:
"Isn't the highest position of the Mystery Pryer pathway the Hidden Sage worshipped by the Moses Ascetic Order? Or is that 'Erudite' His avatar?"
"It should be said that He is the avatar of the 'Erudite.' Would you like to listen to my Lord's sermon?"
Leyton smiled and shook his head, calmly correcting Trissy's words.
Trissy gazed at Leyton, slightly stunned, and took a small step back, a hint of wariness rising in her eyes as she said:
"Aren't you from the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom?"
"These two identities do not conflict," Leyton responded with a light chuckle.
As he spoke, the starlight outside the French window suddenly became dazzling, with specks of starlight scattering into the room, illuminating a brilliant Cosmos.
The crystal ball he held in his left hand instantly became radiant, and the gravity in the room became abnormal, beginning to pull towards the Cosmos.
"Troublesome."
Muttering softly, Leyton gently rubbed his right hand, summoning an invisible servant, and took the colorful and distorted oil painting from its hand.
As spiritual energy was continuously infused, the vortex-like light clusters on the painting seemed to suddenly come alive, constantly enlarging and overlapping with the surrounding space.
The dazzling Cosmos that had been reflected in the room instantly became distorted, stretching into azure lines, twisting and contracting into thread balls of varying sizes. The surrounding space rapidly thinned, gradually losing its "height" and turning into a two-dimensional watercolor painting without thickness.
The brilliant, distorted Cosmos and Red Rose Manor vanished in an instant, and the hotel room became dim once more, with only some faint yellow light filtering through the stained glass bay window, preventing the room from being completely Dark.
"The impact at night is greater than I expected. Is it a coincidence, or because of some special quality about me?"
Leyton looked at the crystal ball in his hand, which had lost its luster and become hazy, and murmured to himself, then handed it to the invisible servant behind him.
Clap! A crisp snap echoed in the room, and a clear, brilliant, and pure light emerged from the void, illuminating the cheap hotel room brightly.
The sudden light made Trissy squint uncomfortably. After she had recovered slightly, her gaze instinctively fell upon the abstract, distorted Cosmos oil painting in Leyton's hand. She felt a subtle yet intense danger from this painting.
Noticing Trissy's gaze, Leyton chuckled and raised the oil painting in his hand, saying with a smile:
"Sorry, the Mystical Item was a bit out of control just now, but it's been resolved."
"It's called 'Van Gogh's Starry Night,' a somewhat special Mystical Item, possessing Beyonder abilities different from the twenty-two Pathways of the Gods. If classified by Sequence Pathway, it's roughly equivalent to a Sequence 4 Mystical Item."
"Who is Van Gogh?" Trissy asked casually after a slight nod.
"Uh… a painter. A long, long time ago, he was a famous painter."
Leyton was stunned; he had not expected Trissy's focus to be on Van Gogh, rather than the painting itself.
Trissy nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping around the old room. The only wooden chair was already occupied by Leyton, and she completely disregarded her image as a lady, casually sitting on the simple dressing table that only had a mirror and a two-tiered wooden box.
She wore no jewelry or makeup, loosely clad in a men's shirt over her upper body, paired with somewhat faded brownish-yellow linen trousers, exuding an indescribable visual impact and allure.
Leyton suddenly felt his throat go dry. He subtly turned his head, shifting his gaze to the stained glass bay window, silently admonishing himself repeatedly: The other person is a man, I cannot advance towards a man.
"Heh," Trissy chuckled with an unclear meaning. She merely glanced at Leyton and then withdrew her gaze. Leaning back against the wall, she pulled at the corner of her mouth, forming a smile, and said:
"Before I was interrupted, what were you going to say?"
Leyton leaned lazily on the wooden chair, rolling up the oil painting in his hand as he spoke:
"Which existence do you plan to seek protection from? The help of any of Them is not without cost."
"The Primordial Demoness wants your body, your mind, your soul. The Evernight Goddess may not care about you; it's more likely She'll throw you directly behind Mr. Door. Mr. Door's condition is only one: help Him return to this world. The Fool follows the principle of equivalent exchange, but your past actions are not among the people He redeems."
Trissy listened calmly to Leyton's narration, her face expressionless as she said, "What about that Erudite? What price must be paid?"
Rotating the rolled-up oil painting a few times, Leyton stood up from the wooden chair, speaking with the demeanor of a fervent, devout follower:
"To spread knowledge to the beings of this world, to guide them on the path of exploring mysteries, and, secretly, to proclaim His name."
"This is what you are already doing, just to a different degree. You will need to do these things more thoroughly in the Future, and the protection is the reward paid to you in advance."
Trissy hesitated for a moment, then quickly connected it to the things Leyton had asked her to do in Backlund. She looked at Leyton with a hint of confusion, saying:
"Finding, recruiting, and investing in those inventors?"
"You didn't have to give so many choices just now. The only one I could truly choose was this one."
"Listing all options for people to choose from is basic courtesy," Leyton calmly defended his previous actions.
"Heh," Trissy chuckled with a hint of mockery, then leaped down from the dressing table and walked to the bay window, pushing open the tightly closed window.
Whoosh! Whoosh! The cold wind instantly poured into the room, making her hair and men's shirt flutter. Her calm face held a hint of unconcealed sadness.
After a long silence by the window, she finally spoke in a hoarse voice:
"What is the honorific name pointing to that 'Erudite'? Also, how should I pray to Him and spread His name?"
"The Essence of Knowledge, The Root of Mystery, The Radiance of Civilization, The Guardian of Truth."
"You can pick any three of those. As for praying and spreading His name, you can do it as you see fit; He doesn't really care about those things."
As he spoke, brilliant starlight continuously flickered around Leyton. By the time his words faded, he had already transformed into a statue made of countless Stars. This statue instantly shattered, turning into specks of brilliant starlight that surged and dispersed, drilling into tiny cracks in the walls and floor, rapidly disappearing.
Trissy, standing by the open window, slightly tilted her head to look at the surging starlight leaving. Only when there was no trace of starlight left in the room did she close the window again, leaning her body against the window frame, and sighed in a low, deep voice:
"Demonesses are the best at observing human hearts. Significant changes have occurred in him… Is he balancing his humanity and divinity through rationality? A person walking on a tightrope, a slight misstep will send them plunging into the Abyss."
"It seems that from the moment one drinks the potion, the Beyonder's fate is no longer entirely their own…"
On the surface of the northern Sonia Sea, a massive sailing ship had just changed course, heading towards Nas, the capital of the Gargas Islands, the "White City."
On the dark sea, faint crimson moonlight illuminated the tall sails raised on the ship. On them were ten white Stars of equal size, encircling a cold, indifferent eye without eyelashes.
On the deck of the Future, Frank, dressed in overalls and a white shirt, was pouring sticky black liquid mixed with unknown substances into the sea, barrel after barrel.
A black cat wearing a tricorn pirate hat and an eye patch over its right eye squatted upwind, far from the scene. It watched the unknown substances being poured into the sea by Frank, barrel after barrel, and asked in confusion:
"Frank, did your experiment fail again?"
"Yes, but I've found a new direction. I'll ask Al to write a letter later to get another batch of new Monster corpses. Soon, I'll be able to cultivate plants that grow by feeding on Monster corpses."
Frank nodded slightly, his tone not discouraged, but rather a little excited.
Pace, the black cat, adjusted the tricorn hat that was almost covering his eyes, then lightly leaped onto the ship's rail, gazing at the dark sea, trying to find traces of fresh small dried fish.
After watching from the ship's rail for a long time, it didn't see a single fish leap out of the sea. Disappointed, it jumped off the rail, and after landing on the deck, it turned to Frank and asked:
"Frank, why aren't there any small dried fish coming out to eat the experimental residue you're pouring this time?"
"This is different from the previous experimental residue. Although I've treated these residues, they still carry a certain degree of toxicity and pollution. Those marine creatures will instinctively stay away from these things, so of course, they won't gather here."
Frank tried to explain in simple terms to Pace, the black cat.
Pace's cat face showed a human-like look of shock, and its expression stiffened as it confirmed with Frank:
"So, not only will there be no small dried fish, but they will also stay away from the surrounding sea due to these strange things you're pouring in?"
"That's right," Frank nodded lightly.
"Meow~ My poor small dried fish!"
Pace was like a child who had lost a beloved toy, rolling on the deck several times as if life had lost its meaning, constantly muttering.
Cattleya, wearing a black classical robe, walked out of the captain's cabin. She had heard Pace's mournful cries even from inside the cabin.
After approaching and hearing Pace's cries clearly, she sighed helplessly and quickly walked to Pace, asking with some confusion:
"Didn't Nina say she prepared special smoked small dried fish for you? Why are you still thinking of fishing in the sea yourself? You're just a cat; you're far less agile in the sea than those fish."
Pace stopped rolling on the deck and looked at the captain who had approached him at some point. He lowered his head like a child who had made a mistake and explained in a low voice:
"Smoked small dried fish are so hard to eat; it's like chewing on wood when I bite into them."
"Smoking small dried fish is disrespectful to small dried fish! I even feel that the small dried fish died unjustly."
Cattleya remained silent for a brief moment, then still warned:
"You must go into the sea only with Nina accompanying you. The ocean is not your domain as cats; with her there, you won't drown."